Episode discussion post: "Echo"

[jae]

Aired:
21 May 2014 in the U.S. and Canada
25 May 2014 in Israel
7 June 2014 in the UK

This is a discussion post for episode 213 of The Americans, intended for viewers who are watching the show on the U.S./Canadian schedule. (Feel free to dive in to the discussion even if you're coming in late--and you should also feel free to start a new thread if it seems too daunting to read through what's already been posted first. If you're reading this at a point where you've already seen subsequent episodes, though, please take care to keep comments spoiler-free of anything that comes after season two, episode thirteen.)

Original promo trailer

"The Americans Season 2 Episode 13 Promo - Echo [HD] The Americans 2x13 Promo" (Watch on YouTube)

Episode recaps

From Grantland
From Time
From the Washington Post
From Rolling Stone
From the AV Club
From Hitfix
From IGN
From the Huffington Post: Karen Fratti, Maureen Ryan
From Vulture
From Variety
From the Tampa Bay Times
From Sound on Sight
From Collider
From Paste Magazine
From Gawker
From the Cloture Club
From tv.com
From tvrage.com
From Headline Planet
From spoilertv.com (in French)
From TV Ate My Wardrobe
From GAMbIT Magazine
From showratings.tv
From Comments Enabled
From Boob Tube Dude
From Unreality Primetime (UK)

Comments

Re: Tobolsk! Diptheria! Jared!

[katiac]

On relisten it's still a little hard to make out, but I don't think I hear him talking about anyone else. The "him" I think I heard him referring to this time sounds like Emmett and it sounded like he said he pushed him to the wall, which makes it even fuzzier for me to picture, as Emmett was a lot bigger physically, and a KGB agent, and it makes it tough for me to imagine how Jared would've gotten off 3 clean head shots like that. Maybe someone else has a scenario that makes sense, but it's hard for me to work out...

Jared's confession

[treonb]

He definitely talks about his father. Here's what he says, based on the subtitles. I started it a bit before the murder confession.

Jared:
I prom-- I prom-- I promised her we were gonna be together.
I love her. I love her. And she loves me.
We were g-- we were gonna --
We were gonna -- we were gonna work together.
we were -- we were gonna do great things.

My parents, they didn't under--
I tried to tell them. They didn't understand.
They -- they just wouldn't listen.

You have -- you have to tell moscow that I saved you.
You --

P&E: You did save us.

Jared:
You -- you said my parents loved me.
They didn't love me.
M-my own -- my family was a lie.
My whole life was a lie.

When they found out,
My father -- my -- my -- my father --
He -- he didn't understand... The truth.
T-t-the -- the only truth.
Kate -- Kate told me who -- who I am,
Who I really am.

P&E: Jared, where did you get that gun?

Jared:
That day in the hotel, that's...When he f--
He threw me up against the wall.
He said he'd never let it happen.
He was screaming like a crazy person.
He didn't think I knew where his gun was?

My mother, she tried --
She tried -- she tried to grab me.

P&E: And what about amelia?

Jared:
She w-- she w-- she was hysterical, and --
And she would -- she would have
gone straight to the police.
And --
S-she -- she didn't deserve --
she didn't deserve that.

P&E: And you just cleaned up and went to the pool.

Jared:
I-I had -- I had to.
I-I had to protect my cover.
What we do...
It's for something greater than ourselves.
K-Kate always -- k-- Kate alway-- Kate always --
Kate always said the work, the cause...
That's what -- that's what ma--
that's what matters.
You have to -- you have to --
you have to tell her.
You have to te--
when you see her!

Re: Jared's confession

[treonb]

And now that I think about it, his confession doesn't add up with the facts. Leanne was killed after Amelia.

And it looks like whoever shot them had great aim.

Re: Jared's confession

[katiac]

That's what bugs me. Jared is your typical skinny teen boy. Emmett was a big, muscular guy and Leanne was a tall woman who was more sturdily built than Elizabeth (who they show taking huge men out right and left.) Additionally, both parents had years and years of extensive KGB training, then decades of experience in the field, and Jared had, if anything, maybe one or two lessons. No way do I buy that if Emmett had him against the wall, Jared could've gotten his gun, or that either parent would've let him near the gun if it was to the point Emmett had to throw him into a wall.

And then we're supposed to believe Jared pulled off three clean head shots? With how much firearms training? And neither trained KGB agent could get the gun from him? And if Amelia was killed last, he managed to reposition the bodies without a trace of evidence because he's that much of am instinctual savant with crime scenes?

Re: Jared's confession

[treonb]

It doesn't add up for me, but the one thing that I can maybe see is that the parents didn't expect it, and thought they could handle it without violence.

How did Jared kill two trained KGB agents?

[jae]

Maybe they didn't resist because they couldn't fight off their own son with deadly violence?

-J

Re: How did Jared kill two trained KGB agents?

[treonb]

That's what I'm thinking. But then, I'd still expect them to be able to disarm him.

Just like I'd expect Kate to put up a better fight :-)